Hermann Seele

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just gonna do it justice. Now settle in, because this is the story of a man who wore so many hats you'd wonder how he kept track of them all. Hermann Seele, born April 14, 1823, in Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany.

He came to Texas in 1843, and New Braunfels would never quite be the same. On August 11, 1845, Hermann Seele became the first school teacher in New Braunfels. No schoolhouse, no walls, no roof.

Just fifteen pupils, a canopy of elm trees, and a hill at their backs. That right there was the beginning of something. Seele didn't stop at teaching, not by a long stretch.

He helped organize the first Protestant church in New Braunfels. He helped get a newspaper off the ground, the Zeitung. And if that weren't enough, he had a hand in organizing several social and cultural clubs, too.

The man was everywhere. He served as the first district clerk for Comal County, from 1846 to 1854. Then came the state legislature, 1863 to 1865.

Justice of the peace. Mayor. City alderman.

Postmaster. He was also a farmer and a lawyer, and through all of it he never stopped believing in public education. Hermann Seele passed on March 18, 1902, but he left something behind that outlasts all those titles.

He wrote it all down, the pioneer life, the early days, the whole raw and remarkable story of New Braunfels. Fifteen kids under elm trees, and one man who made sure the world would remember what that looked like.

What the marker says

(April 14,1823 - March 18, 1902) A native of Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany, Hermann Seele came to Texas in 1843. He became the fist school teacher in New Braunfels on August 11,1845 when he held class for 15 pupils beneath elm trees at the foot of the hill. Selle helped organize first Protestant church, the newpaper "Zeitung," and several social and cultural clubs. He was first district clerk for Comal County,1846-54, state legislator,1863-65, justice of the peace, mayor, city alderman, and postmaster. A farmer,lawyer, and supporter of public education, Seele left written accounts of pioneer life in New Braunfels. (1976)